5.  The applicant was born in 1950 and lives in Manojlovce. He is the father of Jovica Mitić ("JM") who, on 8 October 2007, at the age of 28, hanged himself whilst serving a cumulative prison sentence of one year and nine months at Leskovac District Prison ("the District Prison").
6.  On 14 August 2007 JM was arrested by the Leskovac Police Department on suspicion of larceny. The same day the investigating judge of the Leskovac District Court ("the District Court") decided to open an investigation against him on the larceny charge and to detain him for a period of one month.
7.  On 15 August 2007, after having been placed in a detention unit of the District Prison, JM was examined by DP, the prison doctor, and a detention medical file was opened at the prison infirmary. During the examination, JM said that he had been involved in four traffic accidents in the past two months in which he had injured sixth cervical vertebra. He denied any other recent injury, surgery or illness. During his detention, JM visited the prison doctor three times complaining of trouble sleeping (17, 22 and 24 August 2007). He was prescribed 10 mg of diazepam and 15 mg of flormidal once a day.
8.  On 21 August 2007 the Police Department informed the prison authorities that various District Courts had previously issued several arrest warrants for JM in connection with prison sentences imposed on him earlier by three final judgments (six months ordered on 19 November 2003 for larceny and forgery; three months ordered on 16 May 2005 for enabling substance abuse; and one year ordered on 7 November 2005 for forgery). The prison authorities were thus requested to transfer JM from a detention unit to a prison unit to serve a cumulative prison sentence of one year and nine months. They were also warned that, being a recidivist and a fugitive, he should be placed in the high-security prison unit.
9.  On 27 August 2007 JM was placed in the high-security prison unit. On 28 August 2007 he was examined by the prison doctor and by TI, the prison psychologist, as a part of the standard procedure. During the examination JM denied any family history of mental illness and said that prior to imprisonment he had used sedatives for his sleeping problems. In her record of the examination, the prison psychologist described him as introverted, dishonest and dissimulative.
10.   JM was examined again on 4 September 2007 for what appears to be muscle pain (the medical file submitted by the Government is partly illegible). On 21 September 2007 he complained of a "twinge" and the prison doctor discovered bruises on his left shoulder, shoulder blades and right upper arm. The doctor considered the bruises to be three days old. JM refused to say how he got these bruises and it would appear that he refused to file a formal complaint with the prison authorities. The doctor observed that he appeared nervous. She prescribed ibuprofen and 10 mg of diazepam twice a day.
11.  On 25 September 2007 JM failed to show up for a scheduled medical check-up. On 2 October 2007 JM visited the prison doctor concerning a dermato-venereal condition and an appointment was made for him with a specialist outside the prison. Two days later he complained of insomnia and minor anxiety. He refused to see the prison psychologist and the prison doctor increased the daily dose of diazepam to 10 mg three times per day and again prescribed 15 mg of flormidal once a day.
12.  On 3 October 2007 JM attempted to escape together with three other inmates. On 5 October 2007 disciplinary proceedings were initiated against each of them and a disciplinary measure of placement in solitary confinement for a period of 15 days was imposed on each.
13.  Before being placed in solitary confinement, JM was examined by the prison doctor, who established that he was fit to undergo solitary confinement with the continuation of previously prescribed daily therapy (paragraph 11 above). During his stay in solitary confinement JM was visited by the prison doctor once a day and was receiving his therapy administered by a member of the prison medical staff. He did not complain of any health problem. The cell in which he was placed was equipped with CCTV which covered the entrance door of the cell and part of the toilet door. It did not make video recordings but only projected images to a screen located in the office of the head of the prison guards.
14.   On 7 October 2007 the applicant came to visit his son but was informed that the visit was not allowed because JM had been placed in solitary confinement following disciplinary proceedings against him (paragraph 31 below). He was allowed to leave a package which was given to JM the same day.
15.  Early in the morning of 8 October 2007 JM was served with breakfast. At approximately 8.15 a.m. he was visited by the prison doctor and a member of the prison staff. Between 8.45 a.m and 9.00 a.m. a member of the prison medical staff gave him his daily treatment. He later recalled that JM’s demeanour was calm and responsive.
16.  At around 12 noon the same day JM was discovered by a prison guard and a correctional officer hanging from the heating pipe in his cell by a ligature fashioned out of a bed sheet. At 12.05 p.m. he was pronounced dead.
17.  At 12.20 p.m. on the same day the investigating judge of the District Court conducted an on-site investigation during which the cell was secured by two police officers. The deputy public prosecutor was also present. Photographs were taken of the cell and of JM’s body. The on-site investigation was closed at 2.00 p.m. The investigating judge made a record of the investigation, including a description of JM’s cell and the items found therein, as well as of the reconstruction of the events of that morning based on an interview with the prison warden. The written statements of the prison staff who had contact with JM, given to the prison warden, were also included in the file. JM’s family was informed of his death the same day.
18.  The same day the police questioned the prison guard and the correctional officer who had discovered JM’s body. The prison guard said that he had arrived at work at 7.45 a.m. and had visited all the cells, including that of JM. Everything appeared normal. He further said that he had seen JM alive in his cell at 10.50 a.m. The correctional officer said that he had last seen JM on 4 October 2007. His impression was that, while JM was an introverted person, there was nothing peculiar in his demeanour.
19.  The police also interviewed the prison doctor, the member of the prison medical staff who was giving treatment to JM and two other members of the prison staff who had had contact with him. They maintained that JM had never disclosed any suicidal tendencies and that he had seemed relaxed the last time they had seen him. The official record of all the interviews was made.
20. At 10.00 p.m. that day Dr RK performed an autopsy on JM’s body, at the request of the investigating judge. The doctor noted that he had been informed by the investigating authorities that JM’s body was discovered at around 10.00 a.m. He went on to describe the external appearance of the body and noted that the ligature had left a twenty-five by thirty millimetres wide trace on the front of JM’s neck and a thirty by forty millimetres wide trace on the back and sides of his neck. He further observed an oblong purple bruise on JM’s neck; it did not disappear when pressed. The doctor further noted an old bruise, which measured twenty by fifteen millimetres on JM’s right upper arm. He concluded, based on its colour and appearance, that it was an old injury. The internal examination did not show, in his opinion, any anomalies. The histopathological examination of JM’s internal organs had shown severe blood stasis, particularly in the lungs and kidneys. The microscopic examination of his neck subcutaneous soft tissues revealed fresh bleeding. The toxicology screening revealed no traces of poison; some traces of alcohol were discovered. The autopsy report concluded that JM’s death had occurred between 9.00 a.m. and 10.00 a.m. as a result of asphyxia caused by hanging. The report included photographs.
21.  Before the autopsy report was received by the court and the applicant, on 9 October 2007 the applicant requested a second autopsy. He was informed the same day by the investigating judge that a second autopsy could not be ordered before the report of the first had been received. JM’s body was given to his family the same day.
22.  On 9 October 2007 one of the inmates who was also in solitary confinement as a result of the escape attempt (paragraph 12 above) informed the prison doctor and the correctional officer, in two separate visits of which official records were made, that during a daily walk in the prison yard, JM had told him that he planned to stage a suicide attempt in order to be transferred to the Special Prison Hospital in Belgrade. The inmate expressed his regret for failing to inform the prison authorities of JM’s intentions.
23.   The same day, the applicant lodged a criminal complaint against the prison warden and unspecified prison officers for the alleged murder of his son and abuse of authority. The applicant argued, in particular, that his son had been unjustly and arbitrarily punished for the alleged escape attempt as he was the only one who had been punished with solitary confinement which had caused psychological suffering and his eventual suicide. On the same day, the public prosecutor requested a report of the events of 8 October 2007 from the prison authorities and that police officers question all persons indicated in the applicant’s complaint, in particular about JM’s treatment in prison and why he had been placed in solitary confinement.
24.  At the request of the public prosecutor, the police again questioned the prison guard and the correctional officer who had discovered JM’s body, the prison doctor, the member of the medical staff who had administered treatment to JM and two other prison officers who had had direct contact with him. They all reiterated their earlier statements that, in particular, there had been nothing peculiar in JM’s behaviour that would have indicated that he was suicidal.
25.  On 16 October 2007 the police report was sent to the prosecutor’s office. It also contained a written statement of the prison warden dated 15 October 2007, the record of visits JM had received and decisions concerning disciplinary proceedings against three other inmates who had participated in the escape attempt (paragraph 12 above). The prison warden submitted that JM’s treatment was in compliance with the prison rules. JM had visiting rights (he had received eight visits from his family and three from his lawyer) and had received adequate medical treatment. On 19 December 2007 the public prosecutor decided not to prosecute.
26.  On 28 December 2007 the applicant filed an indictment with the District Court against the prison, the prison doctor and nine other prison officers for alleged murder, having taken over the prosecution of the case as a “subsidiary prosecutor” (paragraph 30 below). He maintained his allegations in his criminal complaint, adding that the prison doctor had made a wrong assessment in deciding that his son was fit for placement in solitary confinement. On 4 January 2008 the investigating judge of the District Court requested the prison authorities to submit a report on JM’s treatment in the prison (in particular, as regards his visiting rights, his medical treatment and any disciplinary proceedings against him). The investigating judge also requested a file from the public prosecutor’s office.
27.  On 11 January 2008 the prison authorities sent the requested report to the investigating judge. It contained, in particular, the statement of the prison doctor dated 9 January 2008: she gave an account of JM’s medical treatment in prison and stated that, while he had not requested medical assistance while in solitary confinement, she had visited him once per day in accordance with prison regulations.
28.  On 14 January 2008, after examining all the documents, the investigating judge expressed the opinion that there were not enough elements for an indictment and that the investigation should be discontinued.
29.  On 23 January 2008 a chamber of three judges of the District Court accepted that conclusion and decided not to prosecute. That decision was upheld by the Supreme Court of Serbia on 12 March 2008.